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Topic: Who inserts localised pre-roll ads? (Read 60 times)

This query concerns pre-roll ads - ads (usually only one or two) that are heard when 'tuning' to an internet radio stream before the desired stream is heard.

One of my favourite stations is Serenade Radio, which is listed at Reciva and at Frontier (vTuner), and which has a website with a pop-out player window, and which also mentions a stream URL (http://4534.cloudrad.io:8284/). Very recently (this week), I have been getting a very localised pre-roll ads (i.e. in German, and one ad even goes on about a shopping mall just down the road from here) whenever I tune in. I have done some tests, and although I usually only listen on Frontier-based internet radios, I get the same effect on Serenade's website, and when using the URL as an 'added station' on my radio, and on the "Radio UK" app on my smartphone. My wife gets exactly the same pre-roll ads on some of her Polish stations, too (eg. RMF Classic), but that's been going on for quite a lot longer

Strangely enough, I do not get any ads if I listen on my PC, via their website, with a UK VPN activated.

I have contacted Serenade Radio about this, and they told me that they are only on two third-party streaming sites and, whilst such an approach is a practice of some sites, it is strictly forbidden in their contract, and they do not receive any revenue from it.

So I wonder: who is inserting localised pre-roll ads (and pocketing the proceeds) without the stream owners' permission? Surely, this is not cricket? Could it be the stream hosting site? Or the internet provider?